# Troubleshooting & Error Diagnostics

> Common errors, how to read error.log, and fixing webhook handshake issues.

**Category:** Troubleshooting & Support  
**URL:** https://docs.botlify.cloud/troubleshooting  
**Platform:** Botlify Cloud (https://botlify.cloud)  

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## 1. The Bot Does Not Respond to /start

   

If your bot is not replying to messages, check these 3 common causes:

   
    
- Check Webhook Status: Ensure the status badge in Bot Studio displays ACTIVE. If paused, click Re-Sync Webhook.

    
- Syntax Errors: Check Error Logs in Bot Studio. A missing semicolon or typo in PHP will cause an immediate fatal error.

    
- Run Webhook Simulator: Click Simulate /start in Bot Studio to see the exact PHP output and stack trace.

   

   

## 2. Telegram cURL Timeouts

   

Always keep Telegram API cURL timeouts reasonable (10–15 seconds). Never execute heavy blocking operations (like large external web scrapes) synchronously inside the webhook handler; instead, delegate them to background cron jobs.

   

## 3. Official Support

   

Need personalized help from the Botlify engineering team? Reach us via:

   
    
- Telegram Support: @botlify_support

    
- Official Channel: @BotlifyOfficial

   
  
   

## Troubleshooting: Connection Timed Out After 5001 Milliseconds

   

**Cause:** A strict 5-second cURL connection timeout (`CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 5`) causes outgoing calls to `api.telegram.org` to abort during temporary network latency spikes or TCP SYN retransmissions.

   

**Solution:** In `includes/telegram.php` and your bot's `bot()` cURL wrapper, configure `CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT => 8` or `10` and `CURLOPT_TIMEOUT => 15` or `20`. Additionally, implement socket auto-reset (`$ch = null;`) on error so stale connections are never reused.

   

## Troubleshooting: Security Sandbox Violation (Backtick Operator)

   

**Cause:** Older sandbox engines mistakenly flagged backticks inside Telegram Markdown strings (e.g., `"Your ID is `123`"`) or MySQL queries as shell execution operators.

   

**Solution:** The Botlify Sandbox now utilizes native PHP tokenization (`token_get_all`), ensuring that string literals containing backticks and Telegram commands such as `/home` are recognized as safe and permitted.